Conspicuously in the back row of the second floor courtroom here in Alfred is stage comedian Birdie Googins, best known throughout Maine as the “Marden’s Lady” due to her recurring role in the salvage store chain’s humorous commercials.

Birdie Googins (BDN file photo/contributed)

Googins — whose legal name is Karmo Sanders — said she was drawn to the case by “curiosity.” She co-wrote the musical “Gold Rush Girls,” which was in part about the prostitutes who followed the demand west during the mid-1800s gold rush. The play debuted in Alaska last summer.

“I’ve become kind of an advocate for ‘good-time girls,’ having written the musical,” she told the BDN in a quick interview before court returned to session Thursday afternoon. “I’m kind of [fascinated] by them.”

She said she’s not planning any new musicals based on the ongoing scandal in Kennebunk, in which Mark Strong Sr. and Alexis Wright are accused of conspiring to run a prostitution business out of Wright’s fitness studio in the seaside town.